Secrets and Bionics
by Icarus the Foxkidd
Summary: I have been given the permission of Piperup 1030 to take their story and re-write it and continue it. Sheldon Oswald Lee is living his life, as miserable as it can be, as best he can until his life is changed by a girl comes changes everything. As cliché as that may be. There's more to her than meets the eye but then again the same goes for him.
1. First impressions

**Secrets and Bionics**

**Hello my friends and loyal readers, I am very excited about this story because this is a passion project that has been on ice for well over two years and with the bit of free time I've had I have been given the permission of Piperup 1030 to take their story and re-write it and continue it.**

**The original is "Girl of Secrets" and is still available on their page, I do recommend reading it before this. And of course a big thank you to Piperup 1030 for allowing me to do this!**

**And as always, please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1; First impressions**

It's true where ever you go that everyone has a title, and never is this more apparent than in high school. Whether it's "Popular", "Jock", "Nerd", "Goth" or what have you you have one. It's just how it works.

A good example of this would be the Crust Cousins Britt and Tiff as the stereotypical popular mean girls, Don Prima as the "Ladies" man who focuses on his hair and nails and of course Ptreresa as the cheerleader who couldn't have a thought of her own without checking in with the head of her click.

And then there was one Sheldon Oswald Lee, a boy who was pale with greasy black hair and mildly crooked teeth. Sheldon fell easily into the category of "Nerdy super freak." A somewhat fitting title all things considered, his first love was a robot after all.

Jenny Wakemen. Sheldon's fascination will all things technological had been what had first drawn him to her in the first place but it was her personality that held him so tightly for so long. She was smart, strong, funny and very nice, even stepping in to save him when he was in trouble. It didn't matter to Sheldon that she was "Just a robot," she had more heart and soul than many of the actual people he's ever met. It was a painful day when Sheldon gave up his hope of winning her heart, the lesson having cost him much more than he had been willing to give.

Yes everyone had a title save for one. Rowena Virquil. Rowena was a stoic woman that no one had been able to figure out, not that very many had tried. Standing at an intimidating 6' 5" she only ever spoke during roll call or when called on by the teacher and as far as anyone knew she never hung out with anyone. Her skin held a lightly sun kissed color, long hail that faded into a soft gold and always in the same type of outfit; a white t-shirt with a sleeveless black hoodie, boot cut jeans with a brown belt, thick soled leather boots with matching elbow length gloves and a black beanie.

Sheldon sighed as the last bell of the day rang. As he was getting up his attention was drawn to his friend, probably the only male friend his age, Brad. "Hey Shell, You still coming to the park?"

"Yeah, I just need to get a few things from my locker." Sheldon said as he lead Brad over to his locker to grab his backpack.

"Hey guys!" Jenny said as she rounded the corner. Hanging off her back was Brad's little brother Tuck, who was tapping impatiently on Jenny's shoulder.

"You guys take to long!" he whined.

"Well we can't control when school ends," Brad sneered, "Now can we?"

"Jenny can," Tuck shot back, causing both Jenny and Brad to blink in surprise before smiling and opening their mouths.

"Principal Rizinsk," Sheldon interrupted before they could say anything, causing both to freeze. Turning to Tuck he said, "The last time they tried to 'Fix the schedule' for the school the principal went threw the roof and almost expelled us."

"We were just trying to fix the menu up a little bit," Brad defended.

"You blew the whole school budget in less than a week going over board," Sheldon said with a smirk, "I'm just glad I had the for thought to have a kill switch for when things went south."

"Uh, don't you mean if?" Tuck asked.

"Nope."

Out of the corner of Sheldon's eye he spotted Rowena, her black backpack slung over her shoulder and was walking alone as usual. Feeling a nudge on her shoulder Sheldon turned to see Brad giving him a look, "Are you eyeing that girl? Do you like her or something?"

A blush spread over Sheldon's face as he began waving his hands around. "What? No!" he stuttered, "I don't even know her! ...Well I know who she is but not really much about her." Brad just smiled and rolled his eyes as they began walking, "I don't like her."

The park was fun for the group, everyone needing bit of fun in the sun. Most of it had been throwing a frisbee for Tuck or just walking around, Jenny feed some ducks and Brad had struck out with some ladies. All and all a good day.

After everybody left for home Sheldon headed to the library, he had a few mechanic and biology books that he needed. Unfortunately Sheldon didn't account for how much time he had spent at the park and in the library. The sun had set and now he would have to walk home in the dark.

'Crap,' Sheldon thought as he held tightly to his backpack straps, constantly looking over his shoulder for anything that might be following him, or in this case waiting for him. Feeling himself being yanked into an alley and knocked to the ground with a hard blow to the back of his head, Sheldon just managed to pull his leg back before the guy could try and break it.

Sheldon gasped as he realized that these weren't just your run of the mill school bullies, these were street thugs and judging by the malicious he knew he wasn't gonna be just walking away from this. 'Double crap.'

Two of the goon grabbed him by his shoulders and yanked off his backpack before tossing it to the other who ripped it open and dumped everything out of it. All that fell out was a few books and a bunch of papers, no cash or anything that was of any interest to them. In frustration one of them grabbed a book and threw it at Sheldon who managed to avoid a head shot, unfortunately it nailed his shoulder.

"Leave the kid alone!" growled out a figure as it stuck itself in between Sheldon and the would be assaulters. Sheldon was shocked to see it was Rowena.

Everybody paused for a moment, stunned that this girl would try something so dumb, until one of the guys broke into laughter. "Or what? Oh, I'm so scared!" he mocked, making the other two thugs laugh, "This little girl's gonna beat us up!"

Rowena stepped up to the thug, causing him to back down slightly at seeing that the "Little girl" was a good six inches taller than him. He chuckled nervously before asking, "So... Whaddya want?"

"You're giving in?" one of the others asked in incredulity as he marched up and grabbed Rowena by the collar of her shirt and brought her face close to his, "What do you think you're doing girl?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She growled as a devilish smirk formed on her face. Within a second she removed the man's hand from her shirt, grabbed his collar and raised her other fist, "Or are you just that stupid? Let the kid go, or I'll make ya."

The thug's face shifted from terrified to enraged in an instant. "Make me," he snarled.

Rowena smile sweetly as she said, "My pleasure," and brought down the force of her fist onto the man's jaw, the force of the blow great enough to knock him to the ground. "Who's next? I'm good for another round or two." The two remaining men grabbed their friend and scrambled out of the alley.

With a proud smirk on her face she turned and began to gather the belongings of the kid behind her. Taking in his appearance, noting that he was holding his shoulder, she gave a disarming smile and said, "The name's Rowen, you doing okay um...?"

"Sh-Sheldon," he said, "and yeah I-I'm fine, they just hit a soft spot." As she helped him to his feet Sheldon gulped at a realization that made his heart sink. The goons ran off in the direction of his house.

"I'll walk you home," Rowen said as she gave him a soft pat on the back when she realized that he just had.

As the two began walking Sheldon did his best to break the silence. "I've seen you around the school a bit, I thought your name was Rowena."

A small laugh escaped her as she said, "Yeah, it is but I prefer to go by Rowen. Rowena sounds to much like an evil queen, at least in my opinion. And... I'm not evil..."

Sheldon could instantly feel the discomfort coming from Rowen. "I never imagined you as some one who kicks butt," he said, trying to cheer her up and change the subject, "It was really cool what you did back there!"

"Thanks," she said with a smirked before looking back down at him, frowning a bit a she saw him grab his shoulder again, "You got pretty jacked up back there, does anything hurt?"

Sheldon blushed a bit realizing that he hadn't been very subtle about his pain. "My knee is a bit scratched but it's nothing to worry about but my head is still ringing and that book got my shoulder hard." His blush magnified ten fold when Rowen invaded his space as she ran one hand over his head and the other pulling his shirt down a little and looking at his shoulder.

"Ya got a bit of a goose egg," she said with a sigh and smile, "and you shoulder has a nasty bruised but nothing serious."

Finally making it back to his house, thankfully without being jumped again, Sheldon turned to Rowen and said, "Thanks Rowen, for the save and walking me home. If you hadn't come along... I can imagine things going sour fast, I really appreciate it."

Rowen laughed and ruffled his already messy hair. "No problem Shell," she said with a soft smile, "it was kinda fun knocking those guys around!" The two laughed again as she turned around and gave a wave, "See ya tomorrow!"

"Bye!" he said back as he walked into his home, the image of her hair blowing in the wind as her beautiful face and sharp, focused brownish grey eyes burned into his mind. Sheldon grabbed his right wrist and grit his teeth a bit. 'No, bad Sheldon,' he thought to himself, 'do NOT become obsessed again, remember what happened the last time you blindly followed infatuation!'


	2. Visit from a friend

**Secrets and Bionics**

**I do hope that everyone enjoyed the first chapter, and that you enjoy this one just as much. Once again a bit thank you to piperup1030 for letting me write this story!**

**And as always, Please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2: Visit from a friend**

The next day Sheldon found himself looking for Rowen, and marveling at how difficult it seemed to be to find a six foot five girl in a crowded hallway. It had been luck only that he managed to find her before the bell rang for class. "Hey Rowen."

Said girl pulled her head away from her locker, book in hand, and smiled. ""Hey Shell, what's up?" she asked.

Sheldon blushed a bit at having those sharp eyes focused on him. "I just wanted to say thanks again for what you did last night. Things would've gone a lot worse if you didn't show up."

"Aw no problem," she said with a smirk as she ruffled his hair again, "It was the least I could do." Rowen held back a bit of surprise when Sheldon seemed to pause for a moment, obviously debating something in his own mind.

The whole night Sheldon had been telling himself nto to do anything with this, even going so far as to make a comprihensive list of all the things wrong with asking out a girl that he just met, unfortunately for him he was a romantic at heart. Inspite of everything he knew that could go wrong, and calling himself every synonim for idiot he could think of while doing it, Sheldon managed to get it out. "Um..." Sheldon gulped, "are you doing anything tonight?"

"No," she said simply.

"Um..." Sheldon tugged at his collar, "Would you wanna go to the park with me after school?" Try as he might Sheldon couldn't will the blood from rushing to his cheeks.

"Sure," she said with a smile, "Yeah that would be fun. I'd love to." With that she gently pat Sheldon's cheek as she walked off to class. Sheldon was frozen in his spot.

'She said yes?' he tought to himself as he turned to watch her walk off, 'She said YES!' A smile found it's way to his face and stayed there the rest of the school day. Unknown to him a pair of eyes had been watching him.

The last clas of the day came thankfully with out much fuss, a bit of bullying and a pop quiz that made everyone but him groan but nothing to out of the ordinary. Sheldon hadn't told his friends about his run-in with the thugs and Rowen last night or of his plans for after school, he really didn't want to deal with the teasing he would get from brad about being saved and by the girl that had caught his eye the day before.

Sheldon sighed in boredom as he waited for Language arts class to start. He really didn't have anything against the class he just never could get into it, his mind more focused and science and tech. Surprisingly instead of the usual half awake Mr. Stuart a woman walked in. "Hello class," she said, "I'm Mrs. Heathers and I have been asked to talk to you about your futures. Please tell me, do any of you have an idea of what you would like to be when you're older?"

A few people raised their hands, most with somewhat of generic answers. A cheif, a doctor and psychiatrist, a marine biologist, and even a pro soccer player. Mrs. Heathers was quick to call on anyone who raised their hands until only two were left.

"An inventor," Rowen said with pride as she was called on, "or somebody who works with vehicles, espeshally hogs or cars. So like a mechanic or a technician." The class was silent for a moment, everyone taken back by the fact that the quiet, admitidly amazonian esque girl in class had an interest in such things.

"A... a hog?" Mrs. Heathers asked in a greatly confused tone.

A small sigh escaped Rowen's lips, obviously she had had to deal with a conversation like this many times in the past. "It's a term for a big motorcycle, like the kind that the street bikers use. Another name is 'Harley'."

'Never took her for a gear head,' Sheldon thought to himself with a smile. That smile turned into a frown as he heard the whispers and laughs in the background. 'Right, like Andy's gonna be a doctor, not like he doesn't faint at the sight of blood.'

Lost in his thoughts Sheldon almost didn't hear his name being called. "Oh uh... I want to work with robotics," he started to say, no real shocker there, "and prostetics." Now that was a surprise.

Rowen stared wide eyed at the boy she had help the day before, 'Prostetics?' she thought.

"OH my, now that is interesting," Mrs. Heathers said with a slight hand clap. The sound of the bell ringing drew her attention. "That's the bell. Okay everyone, tomorrow we will be talking about how to go about following our dreams so tonight I want you to write a list of colleges that could help you."

Sheldon guathered his backpack and his supplies and was quick to leave, never noticing that Brad and Jenny were giving him odd looks. "Where's he going so quickly?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know. Hot date?" Brad asked, the two looked at one another for a moment before bursting into laughter. The idea alone was enough to bust a gut.

"Rowen hey!" Sheldon said as he left the school, he was a bit surprised to see her waiting for him right out the door.

Rowen smirked, "Sup Shelly." Sheldon rolled his eyes as she started to laugh.

As the two began down the sidewalk Sheldon couldn't help but ask, "So, you like technology?"

"Yeah, I like working on cars and stuff," Rowen said with a soft smile, "I also make a lot of things out of spare parts. It's more of a hobby but I'm good at it."

"Really? Me too!" Sheldon exclamed in excitment before blushing a bit and scratching the back of his head, "Well not the car thing, but I like to build things. You should see my garage turned workshop." After a bit of a laugh he said, "Would you want to come over instead? It would be fun to show somebody the things I do."

"Sure, I'd love to see your work," Rowen laughed as she wroapped her arm around his shoulder. The two walked off without ever seeing the stunned looks on Brad and Jenny's faces nor that of the crust cousins.

"The nerd and the thug, who wold have thought?" Tiff said with her usual sarcastism, though with an underline air of respect.

"I don't see the appeal myself," Britt said in her posh tone, "The thug I can admit would be attractive if she put any effort into it but that nerd has nothing that's attractive."

Sheldon and Rowen made it to his house quickly, the combination of excitement and short distance making the trip far quicker. Popping the door open Sheldon waved his hands "Ta-daaa OH CRAP!" Running over to the middle of the room he quickly pulled a sheet over and tried to cover the robotic suit.

"Oh no you don't," Rowen said in awe as she pulled the sheet back off, "Wow..." She reached out her leather gloved hand and rested the tips of her five fingers on the Silver Shell's chest. "Look at you... Sheldon, you built this?!"

Rubbing the back of his neck Sheldon said in emberisment, "Well, yeah. It was supposed to be for something else, but I guess that now it's another Termorton town hero."

"Well it's absolutely brilliant, from the construction to just the look of it, let me tell you that." She remarked, not noticing the blush on his face, "And what do you mean 'Something else'?"

"Ah... w-well, um..." Sheldon stuttered as he looked down at the floor and crossed his arms in an awkward position. Rowen looked at him with a curious look in her eyes, "Nobody knows this... but if I tell you, promise you won't tell abybody? It's kinda weird and embarrrassing story." He slightly tilted his head up and saw the warm look in her eyes.

"I don't have anyone to tell dude," Rowen said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "but even if I did I promise I wouldn't tell a soul."

Her phrasing rose questions in Sheldon's mind but now wasn't the time. "Okay," he started, "so do you know Jenny? Jenny Wakemen?" She nodded, "I... had this huge crush on her, some time after meeting her I asked her out. She turned me down and told me that she rather be with someone like her, a robot. So I made this to prove to her that robots boys are jerks. My plan backfired spectacularly and she fell for the Silver Shell, that's the robot's name. So yeah..." Sheldon couldn't even find the confidence to look up at Rowen.

Rowen lifted her hand off his shoulder and turned around to face the exosuit. She could tell that Sheldon was as nervious as he could be. Giving a slight jab to his rib she gave a soft laugh as she said, "You should've made it uglier... and shorter." Sheldon's face when blank for a moment before he started cracking up, Rowen attempted to keep a stright face but failed just as badly as he did.

It took a few minutes for them to stop laughing, mostly because just as they were about to start calming down one would look at the other and somehow make them start up again. "Okay..." she said, finally bringing herself back undercontrol, "So you're an inventor? Whaddya make?"

Bringing her over to his desk Sheldon began to show Rowen everything he had made, his excitment growing almost as fast as her awe. Sheldon had started a longwinded rant about all his tech with Rowen listening to him with wrapted attention, amazed that a single high schooler had made so much.

Making their way back to the Silver Shell Rowen asked if she could help him fix the leg that got busted in it's last mission. Sheldon was quick to except the hand.

"I gotta ask," she said as she worked over the wiring in the leg while he was busy removing the outer armor, "what are you'r plans for this big guy?"

"Not really sure to be honest." Sheldon said as he started working on the circitry, "Part of me wants to just make him an actual robot instead of just an exosuit. Another part wants to upgrade it and keep up the lie a bit longer."

"Why don' you just come out in the open with it?" Rowen asked.

Sheldon sighed as he finished his work, putting the plateing back on. "Do you really think anyone will except me of all people as a super hero?"

"I did," she countered.

"You're diffrent," he said without thinking, "You aren't a sheep, you don't just follow trends and you don't judge people. You don't look and me and only see a geek and nerd." Rowen blushed a bit at what he said, never had anyone said anything so nice to her before. Sheldon blushed just as hard when his mind cought up with his thoughts.

Calming himself down and desparate to change the subject he said, "Moving on... So, what do you like to build? Or invent I should say."

Rowen laughed a bit, glad that he had changed the subject. "Okay I'm gonna sound really freaky here but I like to make guns and weapons and stuff," she said, "Not like the ray guns we have today, but like pistols and hand guns and crossbows. I bet that sounds so strange."

Looking up with a raised eyebrow Sheldon motioned to the wall of collapsable weaponry. "Right," she said with a sweatdrop, "Forgot who was I was talking to for a moment. Anyway, I also like to build and upgrade vehilcles."

Sheldon and Rowen worked threw the day, working on Shell and various other bit and pieces all around the workshop. Eventually he invited her inside and the two found themselves hanging around the living room, eating apples.

Raising an eyebrow Sheldon asked, "Why huh... why are you eating it from the bottom up?"

"So I can eat the core," she said as she took another bite, "That whole, 'you can't eat the core and seeds' thing is a myth."

"You're weird."

She laughed lightly, "Welcome to the party, a bit late."

The converstation for the rest of the day was random and t best, all topics were raised but never deweled on for too long. At least until Sheldon had to ask, "So what does your house look like?"

Rowen paused a bit , somewhat lost in thought as she took the last bite out of her apple. "Hmm," she said finally, "Old, run down, dark, broken. It's big too, two floors and a basement, plus it's wide. Basically it's one of those halloween haunted houses without the fake bodies and blood. It's empty too. Really empty."

Getting up with a strech Rowen said, "I should probably be getting home."

"You're not going to call your parents to come and pick you up?" Sheldon asked, still somewhat off put by the empty house thing.

"Not... not really." Rowen said with a weak smile.

Sheldon stared at her a bit before reaching over and grabbing her hand, "It's late, and there are way too many thugs out to walk home in the dark. My house is empty too so I got a spare room."

Hessitant as she was Rowen couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, "I'm a big girl Shelldon, I can handle myself just fine."

"I know," Sheldon said with a slight smirk, "I'm trying to save those poor defencless thugs." Another laugh escaped her as he lead her to a spacely furnished but comfy room. "I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

As the door closed Rowen gave a soft, "Night," before she smiled and crawled into bed. Sheldon was a strange guy, but she felt a warmth from his that she hadn't in such a long time. 'It's probably a bad idea to be getting this close to him... but it's nice.'


	3. Home always alone

**Secrets and Bionics**

**This will be the last chapter that was originally Written by the original author, and from here on I will be adding even more of my own spin to it. One has to wonder what life is like for two lonely souls who are trying to get to know one another, but what happens when one begins to miss what she had long sense tried to lose?**

**As always my friends, Please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter3; Home always alone**

Jenny Wakemen was not jealous. Jenny was the highly sophisticated, world saving android XJ-9 for crying out loud, she was NOT JEALOUS! So what if Sheldon was hanging out with a new girl? So what if he's either ditching their plans or asking her to join in, so what?! So what if this was the happiest she'd ever seen him...

The sound of a snap drew her attention away from her thoughts. Looking down Jenny thought she might have just broke her pencil, only to find it was her desk. "Ms. Wakemen," Jenny suddenly looked up to see her teacher giving her a glare that made her wonder if her outer coating was going to melt, "is there something you'd like to share with the class?" The best response she could come up with was a nervous laugh and a promise to fix or replace the desk.

As she made her way to the exit she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Hey Jen," Brad said, his ever present smile tainted slightly by the mischief in his eyes, "how are you feeling today?" Jenny really didn't like that look.

"I'm fine," she said in a slightly strained voice.

The two were quiet for a bit as they walked before Brad spoke again, that same look only growing worse, "So... Rowen and Sheldon..."

"Yeah, what about them?" Jenny said, voice a bit more strained than before.

"Nothing," Brad said, the sly smile on his face betraying all the fun he was having, "they just seem to be having a lot of fun lately you know?"

"Brad I know you have a point you're trying to lead me to," Jenny groaned, "but could you just drop the act and come out with it? I'm really not in the mood right now."

"I can tell, I was in math class with you," Brad said, taking note of the bright blush on Jenny's face, "I never really like the subject much myself but I've never broke a table over it." Jenny groaned again as she hide her face in her palms. "I knew it, you're jealous aren't you?"

"Jealous of what?" Jenny said just a bit to loud and quickly, "Sheldon and I are just friends, always have been. Why should I care that he's spending so much time with another girl?!" Finally managing to look back at Brad, who was wearing a shit eating grin, she gave one more groan, "I'm not jealous."

"Right, right," Brad said as they began walking again, only to spring on her, "You know they have been going to his house everyday for like three weeks right?" Brad could almost hear the nonexistent gears in Jenny come to a grinding halt when he said that, oh how he loved to be a menace. "Tuck and I were gonna spy on them today, see what's going down. I was gonna ask if you wanted in but I guess you-"

"I'm in, let's go!" Jenny snapped as she grabbed Brad by his collar and flew off.

Rowen was waiting patiently for Sheldon, silently having a battle with herself. She had been having a lot of fun with Sheldon for the past week or so, more fun than she had in a very long time. In that time she had learned so much about the boy, both good and bad. Rowen had problems with family and loneliness but damn did he give her a fun for her money.

The feeling of being to close to someone was a foreign feeling for Rowen, and that was the problem, she had no idea how she was going to ask Sheldon over!

"I should ask him," Rowen said, unintentionally out loud, not noticing having drawn the attention of a certain pair of cousins, "he's my friend and that's what friends do right? Have each other over? I've been to his place lots of times and even hung out with his other friends a bit, this is no big deal right?"

"Girl you need to chill out," The snark filled tone drew Rowen's attention to Tiff and she and Britt made their way over to her, "it's not like it's anybody important."

"Quite," Britt added, her posh smile instantly annoying Rowen, "it's just one little nerd, it's not like it's someone of any value. Now if it were Don that might be something to worry over."

Rowen rolled her eyes at what they were saying, "Sure, look I'm waiting for some one so do you need something or what?" There was more venom in her voice than she originally planned, but these two were already tap dancing on the thin ice of her last nerve for bad mouthing her friend. If Sheldon hadn't already made her promise not to fight for his sake she would have already flattened them.

"Right to the point then? Fine," Britt said as she glared up at the woman, "we just want to ask you a few things."

"Like what you you're doing hanging out with the freak?" Tiff butt in, not really in the mood to beat around the bush.

Rowen sent a glare that could melt steel, the Crust cousins were not effected. "That would be Tiff's question," Britt said, shooting her cousin a look, "Mine has more to do with your appearance. As much as I'm loathe to admit it, you have quite the figure and a very nice face, a little dressing up and you could be as popular as us."

"Look her you pompous little..." Rowen growled out before cutting herself off and taking a breath she tried again focusing on Britt, "Alright, to answer your question first I have no interest in showing off my goods just to have every guy save for Don Prima gawking at me at all hours of the day."

"Wait, you got a thing for Prima?" Tiff asked in confusion.

"Hardly," Rowen snorted, "I just know it wouldn't be MY form that the guy is focused on." With a slight head tilt both cousins turned and found Don, biting his finger nail as he watched the foot ball team practice.

Turning to Tiff Rowen growled out, "And as for you, don't every say that about Sheldon again. You may not think much of him but I guarantee he's a lot better than any other guy in this school. More heart and a lot more brains!" Out of the corner of her eye Rowen spotting the boy in question walking up with a smile on his face. "Now if that's all, I got a pad to flaunt."

Feeling that she had said what she needed to Rowen walked over to Sheldon, linked arms with the blushing lad, and left chatting happily. "Can you believe that chick?" Tiff finally asked, finally getting over her stunned silence.

"Not in the slightest," Britt said as she watched them go, the boy in particular as she did, "perhaps the nerd's worth requires further investigation." Though Britt was a calm and collected as she always had been Tiff could see that same spark in her eyes that she always got when something caught her eye.

"So Shell," Rowen said once they were a good distance away, trying and failing miserably at hiding her nervousness, "How about we go to my place today? Got a lotta junk I think you'd like."

If it wasn't for the fact that Rowen had been holding him by the arm Sheldon probably would have frozen on the spot and stayed there. Thankfully his brain managed to kick in only a half second later, "S-sure! I'd love to!" 'Too quick and WAY to loud,' he immediately thought to himself.

Rowen couldn't help but smile at his behavior. 'At least he's as nervous as I am,' she thought to herself as she subconsciously pulled him closer to her, "Great, it's this way."

"So where exactly do you live?" Sheldon asked after a bit of walking, regretting his question almost immediately after when he saw her flinch.

"It's at the top of Gargoyle's Hill," Rowen said, and suddenly the flinch made sense. Gargoyle's Hill was a very old, very large piece of land surrounded on all sides by a forest of dead trees. It was close to town but no one ever really went near it.

The walk to Rowen's home was filled with small talk. The hill, while not super steep, was still a bit of a climb and would have probably taken over an hour to get there if not for the dirt trail.

The house was bit, far bigger than Sheldon was really expecting, and very old looking. In all honesty it was almost exactly as Rowen and described it to him save for one thing, it was really run down. Some of the wooden planks had begun to rot, there were some holes in the roof and one of the porch steps was broken.

"You have a lovely home," Sheldon said, doing everything in his power to make it sound believable.

"You are a terrible liar," Rowen said with a smirk, she had absolutely no misgivings about her home. She knew full well it was what some would call a "Crap Hole", but it was hers.

Opening the door Rowen laughed as she said, "Well, welcome home." Most of the large room was the living room. Towards the back there was a small hallway and a dark stairwell that went to the basement, on the left of where they stood there was a wall that divided this room from another one. Sheldon's eye was drawn to the staircase on the left wall that led up to a thin balcony with three doors, one of them open. In the middle of the room, there was a sofa, two love seats, a circle rug and a small tv that sat on a table.

Throwing her backpack onto one of the couches smiled out, "Me casa es su casa."

"Is anyone else home?" Sheldon asked.

"No. Gunner might be here though." she said.

"Gunner?" Sheldon asked with his head slightly cocked.

A smile graced Rowen as she said, "My cat."

A dark shape drew Sheldon's attention to a corner of the room. Walking over to his a smile burst onto his face as he recognized what it was, a motorcycle. Not like any of the ones that were around today, not even close. It stood upright on it's kickstand and was about half finished, an open tool box sitting next to it.

"Impressed?" Rowen asked, mildly surprised the boy didn't jump out of his skin. Over the course of the time they had been spending together she had found a game in making him jump, the only times he didn't were when he was so fascinated with something that she couldn't get a reaction out of him.

"Very, Sheldon," Sheldon almost whispered, "it's amazing, and so big!" Sheldon my have had a thing for advanced tech but even he couldn't help but drool at a truly classic bike.

Rowen laughed and walked around the bike, "I wanna have this baby done by the end of next month, maybe sooner if I can get my hands on the parts. Building things like these are fun because you can make it basically any way you want. It just has to work."

Sheldon smiled as he ran his hand over the exposed motor. The room brightened suddenly as a cloud moved away from the sun. Remembering the holes in the roof Sheldon asked, "What happens in the winter or when it rains with the holes?"

With a devilish smirk that was quickly becoming a trademark for Rowen she picked up a large screw from the ground and hurled it at one of the holes. With a small thump the screw fell to the ground. "Invisible shield, made it myself. It helps with lighting considering I don't got very many lamps."

A light giggle escaped Rowen as she watched stars shine in the boy's. "Oh my gosh! That is so amazing!" Sheldon squealed, reminding Rowen of a school girl eyeing a particularly adorable puppy.

The buzzing of his phone drew Sheldon's attention. Reaching down and looking at his phone he groaned lightly. It was Brad.

**Dude, where are you?! Youre with rowena arent you.**

Sheldon sighed as he texted back.

**Brad, if you're going to text me, at least use proper grammar. And yes, I am, is that a problem?**

"Who's that?" Rowen asked, curious as to why he seemed annoyed all of the sudden.

"Brad," Sheldon said with a roll of his eyes. His phone buzzed again.

**Yes it is a problem, she's weird! She could be a killer for all we know! I mean who eats an apple core and all?!**

Rowen leaned over Sheldon's shoulder and read the texts. "Wow... he sure is a lady killer."

"Rowen, I am really sorry..." Sheldon blushed, he was going to have a long talk about what he says.

"Don't be," she smirked, "A lot of people think I'm freaky. I'm not surprised." She looked down and saw the embarrassed look on Sheldon's face before putting her hand on his shoulder, "It's not a big deal, I promise."

In one of the only times he didn't think before he acted Sheldon hugged the larger girl, only realizing after the fact that he might have over stepped when he felt her body tense. Slowly she hugged him back.

After a little bit Sheldon pulled away, face as red as a fire truck, "S-Sorry, I didn't... I wasn't thinking-"

"Chill out, Shell," Rowen said with a soft smile and a bright blush of her own, "It's just... nobody's really hugged me in a while... I'm not used to it." It was at times like this that Sheldon wished he was better at the whole 'Human interaction' thing, he wanted to ask her what she meant but he saw that she really didn't want to talk about it so instead he just pulled her into another hug.

This time she didn't pull away or freeze up, instead she wrapped her arms around Sheldon, crouching down a bit so she could rest her head on his shoulder. "You're sweet," Rowen said as she held tightly to him before pulling away and ruffling his hair. Eyeing his phone she snatched it and gave a dark smirk, "Too bad I'm not."

Before he could try and stop her, not that he thought he could, Sheldon's attention was drawn by the sound of a cat. Turning around Sheldon found a golden tabby cat with medium length hair. Sheldon locked eyes with the cat before it dropped the dead mouse it was carrying and dug into it.

"Gunner, if you're gonna eat that, at least go around the hallway or in the basement," Rowen yelled to the tabby as she tossed Sheldon back his phone. To his great surprise Gunner arched his back and meows at her, as if in response. Rowen sighs as she says, "I know you're hungry but we have company. Please just take it somewhere else."

Gunner gave a soft growl and carries the mouse off. Rowen sighed again, "Sorry about that, that cat has no manors." She turned back to the corner Gunner had run off to and added, "Love you!" and received a meow in return.

Turning back to her guest Rowen found Sheldon looking at his phone with a bright blush on his face.

**Hey, this is Rowen, can you stop distracting Sheldon? His hands are magic and I need him focused.**

"I thought you weren't evil..." Sheldon said as a devious smirk grew on his face, one matching Rowen's.

"I'm not evil," She said matter of factly, "I'm just not sweet like you." The two let out a fit of laughter, almost falling over one another. "So..." Rowen said as she caught her breath, "wanna see my room?" Sheldon nodded and followed her up the narrow staircase and walked to the third door on the even narrower hallway.

Rowen's room was big. With a slanted ceiling that fit the roof, a cracked window, posters and diagrams and blueprints covering the walls, and a queen sized mattress placed in a rectangular hole in the ground. "I didn't have a bed frame," Rowen said as she stepped in, "there used to be a raised floor along the side of the room, so I made some adjustments."

Up against the wall there was a statue made of scrap pieces and sheet metal, it was a mess but to Sheldon it was amazing. Walking up to it Sheldon asked, "Wow... what is it supposed to be?" Rowen leaned against the wall, she couldn't help but smile in pride at the awe in his voice.

"I'm trying to make a person, but I have to be a little abstract with spare pieces," Rowen said, "Sure I could go all out with this, but I choose to make it a side project." She stood up with the intent on showing Sheldon some of her other projects when she heard the sound of ripping and paled.

Nether Rowen nor Sheldon noticed the loose nail in the wall that she had leaning against. When her glove was caught and torn Sheldon was shocked to see not exposed skin, but a mess of wires and cogs in a metal frame.


	4. Learning from the past

**Secrets and Bionics**

**The cat is out of the bag now and Sheldon has a secret for her. Past will be brought to light and a friendship might just grow stronger for it.**

**This chapter is all my own, but I will still give one last thank you to Piperup 1030 for allowing me to write this!**

**And as always, Please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Learning from the past**

Rowen could do nothing but stare, her eyes locked onto Sheldon's, who's eyes were firmly on the robotic arm. "DON'T LOOK!" she suddenly screamed as she pulled her arm back and tried to cover it with her other hand.

"Rowen," Sheldon said before she cut him off.

"I know this is seriously messed up!" She said, her thoughts and words a jumbled mess, "I swear I'm not a monster! Please... please don't call me a freak!"

"Rowen." He tried again, a little more firmly.

"You can't tell anyone about this! I'm already a weird girl to most people and I don't want to have to leave town again! I like hanging out with you and the others and-"

"ROWEN!" Sheldon all but roared as he grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to look at him. Once he was sure he had her undivided attention he smiled, any trace of a stern aura around him faded. "It's okay Rowen. I don't think you're a monster or a freak. You are still the same Rowen"

"Y-You don't?" Rowen asked in stunned awe, "...Why?..."

Sheldon gulped slightly as he slid his jacket off. "Promise to keep this to yourself?" Rowen gave him an odd look but nodded none the less. Her jaw dropped as she watched his middle finger slide under his skin just above his elbow.

With the sound of a click the skin on his arm rippled slightly before it rolled up, revealing an arm made of an odd black metal. Rowen's jaw dropped. "You..." she said, unable to wrap her mind around what she was seeing.

"Yup. Me." Sheldon said with a tired smile. Rowen's fingers twitched slightly, which he noticed in an instant. "You're welcome to take a closer look if you want." Bringing her hands up Rowen carefully began sliding her fingers over every groove, nut and bolt on it, she was so focused on it Sheldon almost laughed.

After about fifteen minutes of amazed examination and another five of awkward silence Sheldon finally dropped the other shoe. "So how did that happen?" he asked as he motioned to her exposed arm.

"I really don't like talking about it." Rowen said as she looked down, pain and sadness written all over her face.

"I get that..." Sheldon said with a sympathetic smile, he knew what it was like to have a painful past and the almost incontrollable desire to just bottle it up and shelve the for the rest of your life. Unfortunately years of doing just that and having it come back to bite him in the ass with a steel bear trap taught Sheldon just how bad of an idea that was.

Taking a deep breath, trying and failing to settle his shuttering voice, Sheldon said, "I'll tell you what... If I share, will you?" Rowen suddenly looked up, uncertainty dancing with curiosity beautifully. "I understand dark pasts are hard to talk about, I got more dark secrets than most army men. I also know that attempting to bottle up dark memories can come back to bite you, if anyone can understand I guarantee it's me and everyone needs someone to listen to you every now and then."

Rowen looked down in uncertainly, only just then realizing that she was still holding his hand. She couldn't help but be in awe of the slick metal. "I... I'm not so sure." Taking a deep breath, "B-But I think you're right... you mind going first?" Sheldon couldn't help but give a short laugh at her nervousness, earning an annoyed flick to his forehead for it.

"All right, all right," Sheldon laughed as he rubbed his forehead, "So... I guess I should start off with one of my bigger secrets. I'm technically 107 years old." Rowen gave a stunned look and he laughed again, "No I'm serious. A few years ago I was accidently sent into space, and because the theory of relativity is a vindictive bitch, it took me 75 years to make it back with only a day having passed."

"How exactly does one "Accidently" get sent into space?" Rowen asked with a slight head tilt. Sheldon blushed and turned away, "It was that Jenny girl wasn't it?"

"Kinda but not quite," Sheldon said as he scratched the back of his head, "This happened back when I was still deep in that whole 'Jenny worship' phase." Seeing the smirk on her face and the rose eyebrow he huffed, "I have metal fingers too and have no problem flicking you back." Rowen just stuck her tongue out.

"Alright so Jenny had saved the day like she always does, the only difference being that this time the meteor she stopped had a race of aliens riding on it. When she stopped it they saw her as some sort of goddess, unfortunately at the time so did I so I fit right in on the cult they started for her. TLDR they attempted to do something stupid to 'Honor' her and she chucked them back into space, not one realizing that when she shoved them in to the meteor space ship I was shoved in with them.

"During the 75 years it took me to get back to earth I had to take on many different things to get by, one of which being a cabin boy on a pirate ship. 10 years later I found myself as the ships captain. The life of a space pirate captain is a dangerous one and by the time I made it home I had lost an eye and leg."

"YOU LOST AN EYE?!" Rowen snapped in shock.

"Yes yes, calm down." Sheldon said with a smile, "When I make it back, as you might guess, I was royally pissed. I'm sure it was quite the sight to see a 90 year old man trying to pick up his life where he left off as a teenager. At some point Jenny managed to get me into a de-ager, something that her mother uses to maintain her age. Unfortunately Jenny left me in too long and I was regressed into an infant. On the bright side, at least my eye grew back.

"It was at this moment that the crew that I left found the earth were I was and was going to raise hell about the captain abandoning them. Jenny, in all her robotic brilliance, decided it was a good idea to leave me with them until I was the right age again."

Rowen was silent for a minute. A long, cold, eerie silence. A long, cold, eerie silence that was beginning to send a terrifying chill down Sheldon's back. Gulping slightly Sheldon opened his mouth to try and say something but was cut.

"WHAT IN THE NINE REILMS OF HELL WAS SHE THINKING?!" Rowen's roar was so loud that several of the shingles on the roof rattled and fell off. "What kind of moron thinks it's a good idea to leave a BABY with SPACE PIRATES?! I know that she isn't human but that nonsense is IN HUMAIN!"

"Rowen chill out," Sheldon said, not so much to defend Jenny but more so that Rowen didn't attempt to tear her apart. That ended quickly with her glare.

"I will not," She hissed, "she will not get away with this. You lost an eye in space because of her and even when it grew back she sent you back and you lost a damn arm, and you are trying to defend her?! Does she even know what she did?" Sheldon was quiet and couldn't look her in the eye, "No way..."

"Once again, blind devotion." Sheldon said, "At the time I still thought that we would have a future together and didn't want her to blame herself, three years later I guess I still don't. It happened, nothing she can do or say can fix it save for sending me threw the regressor again but no way in hell am I going three puberty for a third time."

That actually got a laugh out of Rowen, "Yeah okay, I can see that." Calming herself down again, she sighed, "I still don't think that it's right that she got off Scott free."

"Be that as it may, that's what it is." Sheldon said with a tired sigh, "So that's my story, ready to tell yours?"

"No..." she said with a gulp, "but a deal is a deal.

"Just looking at me you no doubt know I'm not a normal girl. Taller, stronger and faster that many Olympic trainers let alone other 17 year old girls." Sheldon nodded at this, it really wasn't all that hard to notice. He grew concerned when he noticed a sour look cross her face. "My 'father'," she spat the word out like it was three month old milk that had been left in the sun, "was a scientist, he specialized in Biomechanics and Gene Manipulation." Sheldon really didn't like the sound of that.

"I was never actually born, traditionally anyway." Rowen said as she sank down to her knees and hugged them tightly, "He found a woman who would donate her eggs for his experiments, I never knew more than she was a brilliant scientist who also had the right kind of athletic prowess. During my incubation he would introduce different compounds into samples he took from me, anything that would benefit me was added.

"Everyday of my life was another experiment. My strength was tested countless times, I was asked to run at top speed from one room to another, They even tested how much my bones could take before breaking and how quickly they could heal. My father always made it clear that I was the prototype of a super soldier, what was to be his greatest work.

"All my life I thought what was happening to me was for the betterment of the world, even as a little girl I was proud of what I was and what I was being used for. I was eager to take the tests, eager to run the laps or lift the weights, all because I was a fool to trust him. I was a prototype alright, just not as a benefit. My father was using me as an experiment so he could have his own army of super soldiers."

Rowen, not hearing anything from the boy before her, shakily looked up and found herself backing up a bit at the pure un-adultured rage in his eyes. Without a word Sheldon turned around and punched threw the wall, iron support beam and all. "That bastard." His voice sounded calm but it made Rowen's blood run ice cold, "What is his name, I can handle him."

"You don't have to worry about it, I took care of that personally," Rowen sighed, She examined her robotic arms as her eyes teared up. "It happened when I was 15, there was an explosion in the lab, I was alone and it cost me both my arms. At first I thought it was an accident, at least until he walked in and berated me about being a failure. Apparently he had done this to test the limits of my healing factor, he just wasn't counting on just how close I was to the generator when it went off. Good news: the little cuts and bruises that I got healed in less than a day, the bad new: my arms weren't salvageable."

The sound of another support beam crumpling drew her attention back to Sheldon, who thankfully just hit the same one. The look in his eyes said it all, demons themselves would run in terror. "Shell you keep doing that and I ain't gonna have a house left."

That seemed to snap Sheldon out of what ever bloodthirsty rage he was in as he blinked, "Huh, oh sorry. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of if." Sheldon blushed and looked away before sighing, "So I'm guessing that he slapped those together for you?"

"It was more than just slapped together," Rowen said as she pulled her other sleeve off and looked over her arms, "one thing I can say about the rotten bastard, he took pride in what he did. I've had to make some modifications over the years after I..."

"You don't have to say it," Sheldon said as he grabbed her hand and looked over the mess of wires and gears, "You aren't the only one who's had to take a life to save themselves. You aren't even the only one in this room." Rowen's eyes widened as her eyes locked with his. "Space pirate, remember? I've had a lot of people after my hide."

Rowen smiled at the boy as he went back to inspecting her arms, his focus solely on what he felt needed to be done. "So, what's the damage?" she asked some what awkwardly.

"A lot," Sheldon said in a serious tone, "No offence but these are torn up and even with the repairs and upgrades they look like they are about to fall apart." Rowen grew worried which Sheldon noticed instantly, "I can make you new ones if you like, I can even make them better if you still have the original blueprints."

Stunned as she was Rowen had trouble answering at first but eventually found her voice. "You can? Th-Thank you! I had no idea what I was going to do if anything happened to them. Unfortunately I don't have the original blueprints, those were lost when I burned the lab down."

Sheldon smiled as he pulled out a sketch book from his bag, "It's cool, we'll just have to work from scratch. Actually, thinking about it, that might be even better because you can personalize it how ever you want!" Sheldon couldn't help but giggle at how giddy she was as she gave all the specs she wanted, most of them being collapsible tools built in the palm.

While Sheldon was busy sketching his design Rowen found her eyes drawn to his left arm, the none robotic one. Her gaze shifted to her arm then back a few times. "It irritates me every time I think about it," Rowen groaned, "I lost my arms and now will never know the feeling of holding my-" she suddenly blushed hard as she covered her mouth.

'That is beyond cute,' Sheldon couldn't help but think as he watched her suddenly turn and hold her stomach, 'I guess she wants to be a mother.' That thought bounced around his head a bit before he came to a decision, "If you want I can give your arms synthetic skin that can simulate the sense of touch." Rowen was suddenly so quiet Sheldon was a bit worried that he might have said something wrong.

"...You can what?"

"The false skin that you saw was something I've been working on for a few years now," Sheldon said as he pressed the hidden button again to re-engage the skin, "It's made from a smart material that form fits and is filled with cyber nerve ending nodes. I hate to say it but it will require a minor procedure to connect to your nervous system but-"

Sheldon was cut off by the feeling of hands clasping his cheeks and lips pressing against his. "THANK YOU!" She shouted in joy as she pulled him into a hug, never noticing his already bright blush going nuclear as his face was pressed into her chest, "Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!" The best response he could come up with was a muffled plea for air.


	5. School Daze

**Secrets and Bionics**

**Now that the painful pasts out of the way Sheldon and Rowen can have fun again, and of course Jenny and the Crust cousins are going to find out what is going on, maybe.**

**As always, Please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: School Daze**

"Come on man, you're killing me!" Brad said as he grabbed his hair in frustration. The poor boy thought that he could use his walk to school with Sheldon to get some juicy gossip on him and Rowen, little did he know that Sheldon was good at keeping a tight lip. "You gotta give me something!"

"I did, I told you that I've got magic hands." Sheldon said, biting his tongue a bit to keep from laughing, a bit harder as Brad visibly deflated and slouched. "Oh come on Brad, you call yourself a man, act like one. You shouldn't be this hungry for gossip, especially about mine."

"Did someone say gossip," came the posh tone of Britt Crust, "I do so love a good bit of gossip. Do go on."

Sheldon facepalmed. "Please don't," he groaned, "I don't need my business spreading like a fire around school." Brad opened his mouth to smart something off but Sheldon just grabbed him, covering his mouth as he did so, and pulled him along.

"Oh no dearie," Britt said with a little smirk as she began to follow, "You aren't getting away that-" Britt stopped suddenly with a "Hmm?"

Sheldon groaned as Brad laughed at his discomfort. "I want you to know I hate you," Sheldon growled, though he was trying and failing to hide his smirk. As much as he hated the boy right now he hated it far more that it was impossible to stay mad at him. Damn Carbunckle charm. Just then motion drew Sheldon's attention, then his horror.

"Oh come now," Britt hissed as she pulled at her trapped heel. Of course she would have to step down on a crack that the city had yet to fix, and of course she just had to step down at just right angle that her high heel was locked into place.

"These are my best-" was all that Britt got out before a truck horn drew her attention to the 18 wheeler barreling toward her. In that moment she realized she lived a charmed but shallow life, she just saw the whole thing flash before her eyes.

The sound of wind blowing past and the lack of pain and a heavenly chorus told Britt that she was indeed still in the world of the living. Opening her eyes she found herself in the arms of, of all people, Sheldon. She also found that he was a lot more muscular than his over sized clothes would make it appear.

"Are you okay Britt?" Sheldon asked as he watched the truck pass, bastard didn't even slow down. When he got a nod from her he let her down, only for her to realize she was now down a heel. "I'm sorry Britt," Sheldon said with a nervous smile, "I wasn't able to save the heel..."

Britt looked down in despair at the ruined stiletto but sighed and said, "I suppose better it than me..."

"Do you have a spare pair of shoes?" Sheldon asked as he caught her after she stumbled a bit, "I've seen days where you were wearing like three different shoes before lunch."

"A girl needs to accessorize," Britt huffed with a smirk, "and yes, my locker has a few pairs that should match my out fit nicely." Trying to take another step, one that she was sure would be assisted, Britt let out a quiet and girly "Eeep," as Sheldon picked her up again.

"Hold on tight Britt," Sheldon said as he began walking, the girl doing as instructed and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Brad, can you make sure the path is clear?"

"Oh sure, I have to handle crowd control and you get to carry the hot girl." Brad said sarcastically as he lead the way with his usual smile.

"Make all the remarks you want," Sheldon said with a smirk of his own, never noticing that the girl in his arms was watching him mush closer than she had been, "we both know you'd drop her." Brad's only response was a raised middle finger.

Rowen spotted Sheldon and walked up, "Hey Shell, you see the nut case in the 18 wheeler?" She only just noticed the girl in his arms when he turned around, "Well, don't you look comfortable." She was annoyed, both by the fact that Britt was in his arms and that she wasn't. Jealousy was a truly irritating emotion.

"Jealous?" Britt asked with a soft smirk.

"Yup," Rowen countered without missing a beat.

Sheldon smiled at the friendly sarcasm, something he found odd but funny from the two girls. "Hey Rowen, yeah we say the truck, just closer than we really wanted to." Rowen's eyes widened for a moment before she turned around, hell bent on tearing that driver apart, truck and all.

"Please don't," Sheldon said as he grabbed her shoulder, a feat considering the height difference, "We got class and I don't need you being late because you had to knock out the whole of the TPD."

In spite of herself Rowen laughed, "Oh come on, aren't I allowed a little fun?" Before she got more than a step Sheldon, Britt still in his arms, reached up and grabbed her by the ear. "Ow ow ow... Ok I get it! No killing drivers or fighting cops!"

*Later*

Chem class was always a bit dull for Sheldon, mostly because he had most if not all possible equations that a basic public school could possible have. The up side of this was that it gave him all the time that he needed to work on any of his projects that needed his attention, which in this case was the new arms for Rowen. Unfortunately the down side was that he was struggling more than he expected in designing an arm built for a woman.

While he was busy he didn't notice the eyes of Tiff Crust burning a hole in the side of his head. It always annoyed her how he always managed to get the that seat, though in the back of her mind she already knew it was because he was generally here way before anyone else.

It was the best seat in the class because it was directly out of the line of sight of the teacher, though many debated that the whole corner itself was but that was still the pinochle of slacking spots.

Gathering her courage in talking to a nerd Tiff leaned in and whispered, "Hey Nerd, what are you doing?" When he didn't respond she tried again, "Nerd?"

Finally having had enough of his none responses Tiff leaned over a bit more and was about to flick his ear when his hand shot out and grabbed her. "If you want my attention, you have to use my name." Sheldon said, his eyes never once leaving his notebook.

"Sorry Nerd," Tiff said, "Don't know it and ain't interested in learning. What I am interested in is what you're doing."

"That's really none of-" Sheldon cut himself off as a thought crossed his mind, in his hand was the arm of a woman. The size was off, didn't have the muscle definition that would fit for Rowen's size but it was still an arm that differed enough from his own.

"What are you doing you freak," Tiff asked as she tried to pull away.

"Huh? Oh sorry," Sheldon said as he let go, "I've been working on a project for the last week, hit a wall about five days ago and I think you just might be able to help me."

"And why should I do that?" Tiff asked, eye brow raised.

Sheldon gave it a bit of thought before saying, "Well I could help you pass a class you may be failing. How does that sound?"

"For real?" Tiff said with a wide grin, "Hell man I really need to pass this class, I'm tanking it bad. You gonna take some of the tests for me or something?"

Taking her hand again Sheldon said, "I was thinking more along the lines of tutoring you."

"Excuse you?" Tiff snapped quietly, though didn't pull away, "Why should I let you tutor me?"

"I can think of a few good reasons," Sheldon said as he gently rotated her arm and wrist, "The first being that It would be pointless for me to take a few tests for you if you're just going to bomb again later. The next being that if you suddenly got good grades the teachers would question everything about it. The last being that you are more than smart enough to handle the work."

Tiff stiffened slightly as she ask, "You think I'm smart?" Sheldon nodded, "Really? No one ever thinks I'm smart."

"That's because most guys think with the wrong head," Sheldon said with an annoyed groan, running his fingers up her arm and feeling out how the muscles moved. "Everyone seems to forget the 'Pip Crystals' incident, but I haven't. I know very well how those crystals work, they require a deep understanding of not only yourself but everything you want to do to use them properly." Looking up into her eyes he said, "You aren't stupid, you're lazy."

Blushing a bit to herself, Tiff said, "I'm not lazy... I just got better things to do."

"I don't believe that anymore than you do Tiff," Sheldon said with a pointed look, "If you did, you wouldn't have said that with so little conviction." Tiff looked down in a bit of shame. "Look I get it, you have a lot on your plate, but you can ignore the future just because it's not in your line of sight."

Sighing heavily Tiff watched as Sheldon wrote some notes in his notebook. "Look Nerd, I'm gonna tell you something that doesn't leave this table. Got it?" It was more an order than a question.

"My lips are sealed," he said as he began gently poking her with the eraser end of his pencil.

Tiff was silent for a moment as she looked around the room, everyone was either asleep or bored. Looking down as she watched Sheldon continue his examination of her arm. "I... I-I'm scared..." Looking into his eyes she said, "I'm scared of what everyone would think if I showed I could think circles around most people. It's not that I'm really all that smart, I can just see angles to thinks most don't you know?"

Sheldon smiled as he packed up his notebook. "A strategist then, sounds about right." After he said that Tiff gave him a slightly annoyed look but he just laughed it off as he handed her a slip of paper. "Here's my number. When you're ready give me a call and bring a couple of your tests so that I know what I have to work with."

*Later*

Jenny and Brad could not be happier to be leaving school. Brad was looking forward to some skating and Jenny wanted a distraction from her current thoughts. "Is it just me or does school seem to be getting longer every day?" The boy asked.

"Just you brad." Jenny said as she popped a can of oil, "Some of us actually pay attention in class."

"Says the girl that snapped a desk in half the other day."

"I'm sure Dr. Wakemen's gonna be happy to hear that," Sheldon said as he and Rowen walked up, "What are you two up to today?"

"Jen and I are on the way to the skatepark, gonna show off my sweet moves to all the ladies." Brad said as he shot Rowen a wink, earning him a raised eyebrow from her.

"I've seen your 'sweet moves', I just hope you'll have a paramedic on hand." She said with a smirk.

"I've got that covered," Jenny said with a resigned sigh, knowing full well Brad was going to hurt himself and others if it was anything like last time. "You wanna come?"

Sheldon looked at his watch. "Love to Jenny but I can't today," he said as he walked passed her, "I've got a project that needs work and a lesson plan to write up for Tiff. Long story don't ask."

Brad crossed his arms in a huff, "Come on man, this is the third time you've bailed on us. I'm sure what ever doohickey you're working on can wait like one day."

Before Sheldon could say anything Rowen light punched him in the arm. "He's right Shell, all work and no play will make you a dull boy."

"Kinda late for that don't you think?" Sheldon smirked but would just shrug and laugh, "Yeah alright, let's go."

In spite of how often he followed then to the park and watched them try, and in Brad's case fail miserably, to show off tricks Sheldon really didn't like the skatepark. He could skate, he just didn't like to. What he did like was to watch them do tricks and map out how they would land or how to do it better.

"AHHHH! Oof..."

"You ok Brad?" Sheldon asked the face down boy next to him, and received an annoyed groan in return. "I keep telling you that you need to warm up before trying big tricks like that."

"Did I at least look cool in front of the ladies?" Brad asked while still face down.

"Depends," Rowen said, "Do you think flapping around like a flailing chicken looks cool?"

"Let's see you do better." Brad glared as he finally turned to look at her.

"She did," Sheldon said as he leaned back, "You said, and I quote, 'You call that a triple flip? Watch this', honestly I'm genuinely surprised that you didn't ask me to hold a drink of yours." With another groan Brad just dropped his head back down.

Popping up the skateboard she had been using Rowen chuckled, "Why don't you give it a try?"

"I really don't want to end up like Brad," Sheldon said as he pulled his defeated friend out of the way as Jenny came barreling threw, "I already have the teeth of an 18th century British man, I'm not about to spend two hours falling flat on my face."

"I hate you so much," Brad groaned while still face down.

Pulling to a stop next to the three Jenny retracted her rollerblades and helped Brad back to his feet. "Come on Brad, we don't need another speed bump." she said with a smirk before something caught her eye.

Sheldon was just about to accept the board and look like a fool when what caught Jenny's eye caught his too. "Rowen, get down!" he yelled as he tackled the girl, just barely dodging a little bot. "Jenny, what's going on?"

"Scarabs!" she yelled as she blasted a few trying to get past her, "They look like Cluster Scarabs but there is no way Vega would attack us!" Jenny was getting over whelmed before a blast of blue shot several off of her.

"Dude, why are you packing?!" Brad asked as Sheldon blasted several other scarabs.

"Are you kidding? With everything that Tremorton's been threw, not to mention the nonsense that we see being friends with Jenny, that I wouldn't pack a little protection?

"Jenny! They're to small to be Cluster," Sheldon said as he shot a few more off of her with a pistol like gun, "They also don't have any actual coconsciousness, they are literally just programing!" Seeing Jenny break free and start decimating the hoard Sheldon turned around to Rowen, "Get Brad and get out of here."

"Don't worry about me, I can pull my weight and handle myself!" Rowen said as she punted one of the scarabs away.

"Which is why I'm giving you Brad, he can't defend himself if we get over whelmed," Sheldon shot back as he tossed her another pistol, "Besides, we both know that without the project being done, you are still in a whole different kind of danger."

Rowen gave him a hard glare, as though hoping it could change the actual facts, before grabbing Brad by the seat of his pants. "You better come back Sheldon," she said in a tone that left no room for argument before running off, blasting anything dumb enough to try and stop her.

"What model is that?" Jenny asked Sheldon as he shot a line to block off the group that tried to give chase.

"Mark 9 EMP photon blaster," Sheldon said, "when shot in the right place immediate shut down but will still cause damage regardless."

"Any chance you can make me an upgrade when you have a free hand?" she asked with a smirk.

"Been ready for a week," he said with a smirk of his own, "Didn't have the time or opportunity to give it to you."

After another ten minutes all the bots were scrap. "That took forever," Jenny groaned as she kicked the empty husk in annoyance.

Sheldon hummed in conformation as he picked up a bot and closely examined it. "It's not a Cluster drone," Sheldon said as he poked and prodded it, "but it was based off of one. If I recall what I read from the notes Vega sent us drones tend to be mass produced but still have their own personality. These things are just chunks of metal that know enough to charge at a target."

"Do you think that Vexes had something to do with this?" Jenny asked in worry.

"Not much of a doubt about that," Sheldon said as he packed one of the scarabs into his bag for later examination, "the real question is, who's helping her? No way she could have made these on her own, especially this advanced."

"So you noticed it too," Jenny growled as she crushed another in her hand, "These things are a lot more mailable, I was struggling to get my hands on them. Faster too with much harder shells."

Nodding to himself Sheldon got up and started walking off, "I'm gonna run a diagnostic on this one so sorry but I'm gonna call it early today. I'll give you updates when I have them."


	6. Ready and waiting

**Secrets and Bionics**

**Everyone seems to see Sheldon in a new light, bringing to light that there was more to the boy than they thought. But with a new threat on the horizon who knows what could be next.**

**As always, please. Read Review and Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6: Ready and waiting**

Rowen stood in awed silence as Sheldon typed into his computer, trying and failing to comprehend what the boy had just told her. "Really?" she finally asked as tears pricked at her the corner of her eyes, "They're already ready? It's only been a month."

The poor girl had already been awe struck a week prior, when coming home she found her run down home looking almost brand new. It still held it's gothic vibe on the outside, and a good portion of the inside as well, but every hole had been fixed and the windows all replaced.

Not for the first time Rowen found her mind going to the young man and everything he was able to do in such a short an amount of time.

Sheldon chuckled lightly, "Believe it or not it would have been done sooner but I ran into a road block with the design but found a work around. Then there was the scarab incident and the direction that I had preform."

"Is that why you have been holding tutoring sessions with Tiff?" Rowen asked as she leaned against the desk, before think on it a bit more, "Come to think of it you have been giving a lot of tutoring sessions with lots of girls. Is little Shelly becoming a playboy?"

Sheldon laughed as he stood up and said, "Oh yes, didn't you know? Short, pale and bad teeth are totally sexy." Rowen snorted as she followed him. "Alright, back to the matters at hand."

"Pun?" Rowen asked with a raised eyebrow.

Stopping for a bit Sheldon thought for a minute before saying, "No, happy accident. Anyway, now that the design is done we can get it built. This is where we get into a good news bad news situation.

"As much as I hate to say it that bastard actually did a good job in connecting your arms to your nervous system. Ordinarily I would have to take those off to replace them but that comes with many problems, the main two being the sheer pain that comes with taking it off and putting it on. Then there's the very real possibility that I would have to cut a little more of your arm to get at fresh nerves."

Rowen quickly reached for her arm, just imaging the pain that would come from that. "What's the good news?"

Smiling in spite of himself Sheldon pulled a tarp off of a tank, "I know how to use a work around." Rowen was once again awed at the enormous tank full of silvery liquid. Setting a flash drive into the side of the tank Sheldon continued, "What you see before you are trillions of nanobot designed for breaking down material and reconstructing it into a set form based on what ever blueprint was downloaded.."

"So this thing is going to dissolve my arms and rebuild them?" Rowen asked.

"A little more to it than that but basically yeah," Sheldon said as he opened a chamber on the side of the tank, "Alright, let's do this..." Sheldon suddenly paused as a blush dusted his face, "Say Rowen... just how far up your arms are the prosthetics?"

Thanks to the weeks of contact with Sheldon as well as being naturally good at reading people Rowen already knew what he was getting at, and of course decided to have a little fun with him. "Why do you ask Shell?"

"Cut the crap Rowen, you know how easy it is for me to be uncomfortable," Sheldon deadpanned as he crossed his arms, "and believe it or not this is serious. If it goes up to high you'll have to actually take off your shirt."

"Why is that?" she asked, the teasing smile never leaving her face but genuinely curious.

"Well the nanobots are designed to break down any thing none biological, literally everything none biological. If you were to stick your arm in the chamber with your sleeve down it would be broken down too, but the bigger issue comes that I can't have an actual seal and the nanobots would follow up your sleeve and escape into the room. They can't do too much damage to the room but your clothes on the other hand..."

Rowen blushed heavily as the full implications of what he was saying, "Right then... Just above the elbow on the right and further up onto he left."

Sighing a bit Sheldon said, "Alright, you're not gonna have to take your shirt off to get at your arms then, just roll up your sleeves and remove your gloves."

Doing as he had asked her Rowen felt the need to ask, "Am... am I still going to be able to feel again?"

Guiding her right arm into the chamber and watching it close tightly around the flesh he said, "Yes, so long as the synthetic skin his down." As he started the machine he began to explain what was happening. "I've already inputted the specks into the program so just watch and be amazed."

Looking into the tank, clearly able to see her arm, Rowen was stunned to watch as the gears and wires began to slowly dissolve as though they were in a form of acid. "Wow..." she was starting to become used to the feeling stunned awe. "So, what will my arms be able to do?"

"To start with you will be able to reconstruct your arm into various tools like wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers and the like. You'll also have an even higher strength level than even now."

"Are they going to have any actually weaponry?" Rowen asked in excitement.

"A few but nothing too big," Sheldon said as he watched the arm begin the reconstructing phase, "Your arms are mostly going to be for stability. Nano reconstruction is hard on the tech that uses it. The more forms it can take the more fragile it ends up."

Rowen bit her cheek slightly as she asked, "Is that why Jenny always looks so beat up after fighting what ever she fights?" In spite of what Sheldon had asked of her Rowen had held a grudge against the robot girl for the way she had treated Sheldon in the past.

"Well someone's feeling catty," Sheldon laughed lightly, "Jen is a specially made android. Her whole body was made to be broken down and rebuilt in seconds which is how she is able to fight as many dangers as she has."

A loud 'Ding' was heard and the chamber opened. Rowen pulled out her new arm and was stunned at the slick, slightly glowing metal that was shaped exactly as a young woman's arm. Flexing the fingers a bit to try and get used to the new appendage, Rowen asked, "Where is the skin? Didn't you say that you were going to include the exoskin?"

There was an edge to her voice that she had tried to hide from Sheldon, she didn't want him thinking that she was ungrateful for what he was doing for her but she still remembered him telling her of how she was going to be able to feel again.

Sheldon heard it in an instant and smiled as he helped her insert her other arm. "I did and have. Your new arms is going to need a bit of time to set before we do anything big with them. In about an hour we'll head down to the basement to teach and train then."

_***Later***_

Brit watched as Sheldon and Tiff were looking over her latest test, watching in amusement as her cousin's expression grew happier by the second.

"And you were worried about your grade," Sheldon said with a slight laugh.

"I just can't believe it!" Tiff said in amazement, "Three questions away from a perfect score!" In all her life Tiff would have never believed that she could ever have scored that high.

"I must admit, I'm impressed as well," Brit said as she watched Tiff bounce happily on the bed, "going from dreadfully poor C's to an A in a short few weeks is amazing."

"Never doubted you for a second." Sheldon said with a wink, causing Tiff to punch him in the arm.

"I must say Sheldon," Brit said with an air of concern, not that she would ever admit it, "between all of your little projects, tutoring Tiff, and all the time you spend with your posy, you seem to be wearing yourself rather thin. I do hope you are not wearing yourself out." While not entirely sure why, Brit had developed something of a fondness for the nerd and she was invested in seeing him healthy.

Sheldon sighed as he leaned back on the bed, "Not gonna lie, I haven't really been taking care of myself very much. I'm used to stress and late nights, but... I..." Hearing him taper off Brit and Tiff turned to him only to find him passed out.

"Oh dear," Brit said as she covered her mouth, suppressing a giggle, "do you think we should wake him up?"

Tiff gave a smirk as she pulled out a marker, "Not just yet."

When Sheldon woke up an hour later and found his face covered in an ink mustache and beard, he struck a pose and said, "Not bad. What do you think ladies?" Both women burst out laughing as he washed off his face.

_***Later***_

Jenny and Brad found themselves at Sheldon's garage late into the after noon. The boy had be adamant that Jenny be there and was more than happy to let Brad come along.

"So what's new dude?" Brad asked as he and Jenny walked in, on what looked like an operation room that was hit by a tornado.

"Sheldon, what happened in here?" Jenny asked as she looked around the once neat work space. She had only been in here a handful of times, the last time being none to pleasant. It wasn't something she liked to think about if she could help it, it had come close to ending their friendship.

"Because apparently these things are full of traps and if enough are triggered a secondary CPU activates and they rampage." Sheldon growled as he toyed with the idea of mounting the damn thing's head on his wall.

"Learn anything useful?" Brad asked as he began to poke the exposed wiring.

"We learned if you hit the wrong button or mess with the wrong wire, the thing will attack again," Rowen reiterated as she grabbed Brad's arm, giving him an annoyed look the whole time. Brad at least had the decency to look sheepish.

"One thing I learned was that I was right," Sheldon said as he typed into the computer, putting the scarab into a protective case and lowering it under the floor, "Who ever is helping Vexas, they are brilliant. I'm still not sure how but these things can somehow reproduce."

"Wait wait wait," Brad said as he waved his hands around, "are you saying that these things can get pregnant?!"

"My reaction too," Rowen said as she pulled a face, "try being the one to find that little fact out."

"Who ever built these has an understanding of cybernetic recombination. They swarm, devour anything metal, and threw that a new one is created." Sheldon explained.

Jenny scowled lightly as she said, "You're really going out of your way to avoid the words 'pregnancy' and 'birth'."

"Considering what we did to find that out can you really blame us?" Rowen said, a hard edge to her voice. Jenny, not liking that tone, turned and was about to say something but stopped.

She hadn't noticed earlier but Rowen's eyes were slightly red, and she was trembling slightly. "Rowen..."

"I get that you might not fully understand human nature, but I have no doubt you understand what it means to find out that the thing you were dessecting had a smaller version in it." Rowen's voice was level and her face stoic, but the real meaning behind the words hit home. Jenny and Brad looked away while Sheldon pulled the taller girl into his arms. More tears escaped her but she didn't say anything else.

"They were apparently in the middle of a feeding frenzy when who ever controls them sent them out on their mission. These things have no mind of their own, they do as they are told by who ever made them."

"It's hard to believe Vexas would let this happen," Jenny said as she crossed her arms, "She herself has a daughter."

Brad shrugs as he said, "Maybe she doesn't know. I doubt anybody who actually work with that nut case is really all that well put together themselves."


End file.
